Trevor Berbick-BoneCrusher Smith

Berbick by workmanlike 10 round decision. He was physically very strong and could outhustle boxer puncher types like Bonecrusher. Bonecrusher was very basic in his fighting ability (late starter) and other than a big body and a big right hand, could not offer much that Berbick couldn't deal with.

 

This sums it up.

 

Be an ugly fight with all the holding and grappling. Berbick's activity probably carries the day, but there's a 1 in 3 chance Bonecrusher catches him and drops him.

 

Berbick was a right old handful who doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He won a lot of fights he was not supposed to win. Trevor has a better Resume than guys like Tua, ibeabuchi, Ron Lyle, Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison, And Ernie Shavers. He just isn’t celebrated. He was probably the next best heavyweight of the 1980s behind only Holmes and Tyson. Probably the equal of Witherspoon.

 

Oh yeah. ST Gordon And Bernardo Mercado were certainly two blips during his prime. Perhaps the only off form performances during a time where he was matched with Holmes, Tate, Bey, Page, Thomas, Snipes and Tyson who were all expected to win. He went 4-3 with those guys and only Tyson and Larry really beat him.

mind you, even in the 9 years after losing to Tyson he only lost on points to Douglas, Carl Williams and jimmy Thunder. He even took Hasim Rahman the distance in 1996. After that Trevor only lost split decisions until his retirement in 2000.

 

He also won the Canadian Heavyweight title, beating much younger Shane Sutcliffe twice in his mid-40's, years after he should've been retired. He was giving prospects and decent fighters a hard time right up until the very end. He could be inconsistent (in his prime) but when really on, a tough out for any fighter. Got physically stronger and learned to maximize that as his career went on. Probably peaked in his early 30's.

 

Berbick was actually a significantly better fighter and would comfortably grind it out.

I love Smith as a human being (first college graduate to win a heavyweight championship!) but he gets a lot of miles out of blasting out an undertrained, drug-addicted Witherspoon who just did not want to be there. Much like Liston against Ali, Witherspoon just could not understand why he was the heavyweight champion, and always broke.

 

Berbick was a big strong bloke who had screw lose.

 

If you knew about 80's boxing you'd know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Berbick was the solid favorite against Snipes.

Berbick was coming off a huge win over Page while Snipes had not won a fight in his last 3. It was a big upset.

I've also got a feeling Berbick was expected to beat Bey.

 

I can’t remember if Berbick was favourite against Snipes. It was a cross roads between two guys who had lost to Holmes from what I remember. I have that Berbick-Snipes fight. It was a close fight. In fact until that point Snipes took everyone quite close apart from Larry. Split decisions with Eddie Mustufa, controversial “win” over Coetzee, a genuine draw with Scott Frank and a majority decision loss to Tim Witherspoon that was booed.

Seems back then When snipes was losing it never really hurt his credibility as one of the top guys. He got a shot at Larry out of what most thought was a loss to Coetzee.

 

Berbick was the big favorite and you can be sure of that. It wasn't a crossroads fight, Berbick was coming off a great win, his fourth in a row. Snipes was fully expected to be his fifth.

The Coetzee decision was an absolute disgrace. Some scored it for Snipes over Witherspoon. There was nothing in that fight.

 

Berbick was always a bit unfashionable. He had been around for a bit longer I don’t think he was ever fancied much over anyone. Just respected as a tough dude. He was rated higher but the #2 vs the #7 was seen as a 50-50 match. What I remember of the commentary of their fight Snipes was seen as the younger fighter due a good performance where as Berbick was a contender who had found his level. That was the impression I got. But as you say on paper, Snipes was needing a win here to appear relevant. I don’t think Berbick was then considered a threat to any of the champions. Him beating Page was probably regarded as more a case of Page not being quite ready.

 

In that case everyone under Holmes was "crap".

 

Just accept that you had it wrong for heavens sake. Every time you get proven wrong on something you just double down and try to get around it. It was a BIG upset and Berbick was heavily favored. This is the way it was, there's no wriggle room.